D.W. Leitner Garners SMPTE Fellowship

This past year New York’s own David Leitner garnered acclaim from the nation’s motion media tech elites via Fellowship recognition from SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers). David combines deep creative and technical chops. Over decades of production, he has built a solid, near unique rep with the city’s indie film and digital media communities as a solve-it-all tech ninja. He’s piloted films that premiered at Sundance, built custom optical printers for fabled DuArt, and has even seen his product suggestions turn up in the latest camcorders.

While David wonders what such distinction could have meant for him earlier in his career, he still expressed gratitude for such recognition by his peers.

I could go on and praise his tech writing too, but that’s just inside pool (I edited his writing while a staff editor at Millimeter magazine). If you’re interested, read more here from SMPTE about him as well as the other 2017 awardees.

Mark Schubin

SMPTE also made a Presidential Proclamation recognizing another New York tech media notable, Mark Schubin. The award committee noted his “status and reputation in the motion picture, television, and motion-imaging industries worldwide.” Another good writer, too.

The Presidential Proclamation recognizes individuals of established and outstanding Mark Schubin will receive the award in recognition of his five decades of contributions to the television technology industry. An internationally recognized expert with an insatiable intellectual curiosity, Schubin has worked in every aspect of television production, including design, manufacturing, lighting, sound, camera, editing, distribution, as well as talent, and his projects have spanned every continent of the globe. Today, he supports the broadcasting of Metropolitan Opera (The Met) productions to cinemas and televisions around the world. Schubin is an active SMPTE Life Fellow and a sought-after resource in educating the industry on the history and current state of motion-imaging technology.